The Holy Sojourn Chapter 9
I Má Lerya And we stayed in the palace of Ruukina for three years long until Johun came to me and said, “My brother Dane, is it not the nature of man for them to decide their place in this world?” “Of course, as to what do you inquire, Johun?” I asked. “I have long enjoyed our travails through the lands of this world, and my faith in The Seven will grow stronger every day. My home will forever be in Falfir, the lands of our fathers and kings. But it is here, in Kyoni, that my faith will best serve; to learn of their ways and bask in the splendor of our Lady Ruukina.” Then Johun removed his sword and belt and placed them upon the floor before me. He prostrated himself below my gaze and asked, “If my brother would but do me a service, my family will honor his for all generations.” “Speak, Johun, for I am your brother and shall fulfill that which you request of me; for Rorn hath decreed to be true to your brother, and here in Ruukina’s sight I am also true to myself, for your joy is mine own.” Then Johun said, “I will stay here in the lands of Ruukina until Unquala weeps for me. At the time of my passing I will have my sons send word ahead of them across the valleys to Falfir. Should your descendants live on in your family’s name I will have my children come to them and bring my bones to Falfir, where Unquala may bless my resting place and I may be buried in the lands of my ancestors.” And I blessed Johun with my promise, and it was that he stayed in Kyoni til the ends of his time. It then came upon us during the time of Autumn’s wane that Ruukina brought forth a slaver before our midst. Then the Lord of Chaos spoke, saying, “Sons of Darkness, before you kneels a man, bound by his hands and ankles, for a crime most heinous. It is vanity most severe to believe one can hide their sins from The Seven above.” We asked of Her, “Pray, Ruukina, of what crime has this man been accused? To what is to be this man’s punishment for his sin?” “Oh, sons of Darkness, daughters of Adium, Lay low your pride and vices; From the blood of the dead, their flesh your foundations, You have made great your citadels. I have watched you, Sons of the Seven, daughters of Goth, And made mark of your transgressions. For I speak true, and hear me now; Your cities built of bone, I will turn to ash. Cultures baked and boiled in blood, I will unmake, for they are an abomination before Us. Your deeds shall be your own, your monuments and towers of men Built only by your hands. Just as my servant Rahshak-Thall Has gone unto the Wastes To smelter brazen spines against the rock, their Evil smote before the sun, So too will I find the faces of the slavers, the capturers, the torturers, And I will mock their suffering. No pain shall be as divine, no want of Death so severe; Their release will not come. I will bind their teeth to the saddles of chariots And rake them through fields of boiling tar. I will free their bones from their tendons and muscle And carve new faces upon their heads with their Own desecrated anatomy.” Ruukina looked to me and said, “What beckons such ill-contempt from men that they should seek fit to put to the whip and chain their own kin? Is it the Dark Spirit? The Soul of Goth, twisted and formed of need, will ever be your vice, Sons of Lloyce. You shan’t succumb to it, lest you become the very thing your ancestors bled for in the lands of Falfir.” Then Ruukina spoke a word that cannot be writ or said by mortal man, and the man became as ash before her. She scattered his form to the winds and spoke never more of the man. Her form became as a hurricane, and the sounds of tempest and squall rang clear like a thunderous trumpeting. She appeared atop the mountains, her cities and peoples before her with great joy. “See now my kingdoms, see before you my peoples, who even in their struggles labor only from themselves; war is an act of Goth, and you are born from him. In this way, you will sow war wherever and whenever you tread, sons of Darkness. But hear me now, lest my fangs find your blood and make it cold and solid as stone.” Then Ruukina spoke again; to all the peoples of the valleys of Kyoni, the rivers and mountains, and they looked to her in awe. “No man or woman shall be put to work And not be paid for their service. No man or woman put to bare their form against their will And made to have sexual relations. No binds, of chain or of pen, Shall refuse a peoples their freedom of choice. So long as I am Ruukina, Cities of slaves shall burn.” I turned to Ruukina and asked, “Goddess of Chaos, Champion of Freedom, what cities of Man or Elves or Dwarves have built their pillars on the backs of slaves?” “None are without sin; Yet it is the act of repentance which will serve to tip the scales Between the favor of Fumna or Húrin. As for those of this world, there are those who speak, “Who of us can contest the devouring Snake? Who of us can live with the Seven’s Wrath?” They whose servants are fed and housed and cleaned, They who stand strong against extortion of the weak, Who refuse the temptation to sell their fellow man, Stops their ear at the talk of bloodshed of the bound And shuts his eyes against looking at Evil; As Rorn has decreed; Such a person will live on the heights of Aüa, Their halls adorned with the gifts of Jerua, Their children to see the Seven. For I am Ruukina, and by my hand, The only freedom given to those who take it Will be by death alone.”